A shop could lose its licence for repeatedly buying alcohol stolen from supermarkets.
Oxford Food and Wine, on 512 Oxford Road, faces a licence review on Tuesday (March 16) after shop workers were caught buying stolen alcohol from a known shoplifter and drug user on 17 occasions.
Thames Valley Police (TVP) has asked Reading Borough Council (RBC) to review the licence and recommended the council’s Licensing committee consider immediate revocation of the licence “as the only proportionate and necessary step available to prevent the undermining of the four licensing objectives”.
READ MORE: Reading set to get two new School Streets - in Caversham and off Oxford Road
TVP Licensing officer Declan Smyth said: “The alcohol, has been purchased with the full knowledge of all concerned that it had been stolen and for the simple reason that “it was cheap”.
“This behaviour supports criminality as well as supporting drug users within their habit and leading to their further perpetration of thefts within Reading town centre and other Oxford road locations in order to sell the stolen goods to this premises.
“It is imperative for licensed premises (and specifically those situated within this area of concern i.e. Oxford Road) to act both responsibly, and in a manner that promotes the licensing objectives and does not undermine them by openly failing to prevent crime and disorder.”
The police has provided CCTV evidence, which it says shows the shop bought stolen alcohol from supermarkets such as Sainsburys, Tesco, Aldi and M&S on 16 occasions between December 16, 2020 and January 11, 2021.
Evidence from the police suggests the shop spent more than £500 on stolen alcohol during this period.
Mr Smyth said licensed premises have a responsibility to prevent crime and disorder and the shop had “instead promoted crime and disorder”.
TVP also conducted its own search of the shop on January 11, 2021, where it found bottles of spirit with security tags attached from M&S and other supermarkets and a bag full of security tags “that had been removed from stolen bottles of alcohol”.
Mr Smyth accused the premises licence holder and his staff of “deliberate and knowledgeable receiving of stolen goods”.
The council’s licensing officer Robert Smalley has taken a more lenient position, suggesting the shop should keep its licence but the designated premises supervisor should be replaced and conditions on the licence strengthened.
Mr Smalley said: “RBC Licensing appreciates the serious nature of the offence of handling stolen goods that has been committed at this premises and the negative impact such offences have on those businesses that the goods are stolen from.
“It is also understood that the proceeds of such crimes can be used to support further criminality.
“However, taking into account the good level of compliance with the premises licence and the premises licence holder’s receptiveness to improving standards at the premises we believe it prudent to allow the premises licence holder to keep the premises licence.”
READ MORE: Six in the mix – ANOTHER Oxford Road store faces booze licence review
Six other shops on Oxford Road have had their licences reviewed in the last few months, but none have lost their licences.
Instead, all were handed super-strength booze bans, preventing them from selling beer and cider above 6.5 per cent.
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